Song For The Lonely
by Becks Rylynn
Summary: My response to the iPod challenge. I wasn't tagged or anything, but it looked like fun. There is some mild swearing in some.


AN: So, I wasn't tagged or anything, but I thought I would give the iPod challenge a try because I just got a bunch of new songs on my iPod. Remember, I love, love, _love_ reviews! The title comes from the song of the same name by Cher.

Disclaimer: I do not own Life With Derek, or any of the following songs. I also do not own Song For The Lonely or Cher.

Song For The Lonely

_**Song # One: Time of Dying - Three Days Grace (Dasey)**_

The pain in his shoulder wasn't nearly as bad as the pain in his head. His hesd felt like it was on fire, like if he opened his eyes, flames would shoot out of his head and bam! No more Derek Venturi. He didn't remember what had happened, but he knew he was on the ground. With a cough, Derek opened his eyes and looked up at the dark sky. He tried to lift his head and sit up, but the pain in his shoulder shot through the rest of his body and he sank back down onto the ground. Maybe he would just lay here for awhile. But then another thought occured to him, and his eyes snapped open again and he sat up, ignoring all pain. ''Casey?''

There was the car they had been in, burning to the ground, mere inches from him. His eyes widened. He didn't remember crashing the car. He stood on his feet and moved away from the car, eyeing the deserted country road he was on. ''Oh, great.'' The pain intensified, but he managed to limp a few more steps before falling to the dirty ground, gravel cutting into his skin. ''Casey!'' His eyelids grew heavy, but he fought against it. He really should get help. But he wasn't going anywhere without Casey. He was going to wait right here for her.

And then he heard it.

The sound of heels clicking on the gravel. ''Derek!''

He smiled sleepily. She sounded just fine. Maybe he could sleep now.

_**Song # Two: Why Can't I - Liz Phair (Dasey)**_

She didn't understand why she felt this way. She didn't understand why she couldn't breathe when she thought about him. She didn't understand why she could barely form a coherent sentence when she talked about him. She hated him. Or...at least she was supposed to.

But it didn't matter, she had a boyfriend, he had a girlfriend. Yes, Max and Sally, and they were great people. They didn't deserve to be cheated on. She swore to herself she wasn't going to let herself do anything. She was going to stay with Max, the safe, nice boyfriend. There was no reason to tempt fate.

All that went out the window when they found themselves locked in the games closet.

''Don't you have, like, a bobby pin or something?'' He asked, waving his arms around frantically as he paced the small amount of length they had.

She rolled her eyes and leaned casually against the board games. ''I am _so_ not James Bond, Derek.''

''Whatever, I have a date in twenty minutes, I need out. _Edwin_!'' Derek pounded on the door, giving her a headache in the process. ''Edwin, open the fucking door, this isn't funny!''

_''I think it is_!'' Came his brother's reply.

''_We're doing this for your own good,''_ came Lizzie's voice, ''_work out your problems, we're tired of you two moping around whenever you're in each other's prescence, it's friggin' annoying.''_

''Hey!'' Casey stood up straight and her perfect lips fell into a pout. ''We're not that bad.''

_''Oh, you know you are too!''_ With that, their footsteps echoed down the hall and then down the stairs.

Casey raised her eyebrows and looked at Derek, trying not to let her breathing speed up. She didn't know how much air was in here, she didn't want to waste her air supply with some silly little crush. ''Well, looks like we have some time to kill.''

''Why are you not freaking out?!'' He roared, running a hand through his hair. ''Your _Casey McDonald_, queen of freaking out. You freak out over everything, and the one time you actually have something to freak out about, you're cool as a cucumber. What's that about?!''

''You know,'' she drawled lazily, putting her finger to her chin thoughtfully, ''I never understood that phrase. Cool as a cucumber, what the hell does that mean? Why a cucumber? You know what's really cool? Ice cream.''

''Are you drunk?''

''Ha!'' She put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. ''Okay, yeah, you got me, I'm drunk, Derek. Brilliant deduction, Sherlock.''

Derek blinked at her and then sighed, shaking his head and turning to the door. ''Maybe I can kick it down.''

Before she could stop it, Casey let out a bark of laughter. When he turned to look at her, she slapped her hand over her mouth and grinned sheepishly. ''Sorry, I-I was just imagining you kicking down a door.''

''What?'' He frowned. ''You don't think I can?''

''Dude, you're, like, the scrawniest guy on the hockey team.''

''Hey! I am scrappy!'' At her smirk, his eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms, glaring down at her. ''Alright, you just watch, little lady, I'll kick this door down and prove you wrong.''

''You do that.''

Derek took a breath and then brought his foot to the door. He bounced off and stumbled backwards. He hit the wall with a thud and board games toppled to the floor, and with a slightly dazed exspression, he slid to the floor.

''Oh.'' Casey winced and knelt down in front of him. ''That looked like it hurt.''

''Yeah, ow, that's gonna leave a mark.'' He rubbed the back of his head, and slowly looked up at her. Their eyes met, and for some reason, he suddenly couldn't feel the aches and pains of his fall and he found he couldn't look away.

Her heart sped up and she felt like she should look down to make sure he couldn't see it beating, but she couldn't look away. ''We...We..um...We should probably just lie to them, you know, um, say..say we, we worked out our...'' his hand brushed away hair from her face and came to a stop on her cheek, ''...problem.''

''I don't know about you, Case,'' he leaned closer to her, so their lips were only inches apart, ''but I don't really have a problem at the moment.''

She nodded, suddenly feeling faint. ''Right.'' And then she closed the distance between them and kissed him right on the lips. And all thoughts of she hated him and Max and Sally left her mind.

After all, it was pretty much inevitable.

_**Song # Three: Whatcha Gonna Do - Sprung Monkey (Dark Lizwin)**_

Lizzie McDonald used to have a best friend. She used to have a partner in crime. Not anymore. Ever since Edwin started to hang out with his new friends, it was like she didn't know him anymore. Every night, when they would meet up in the games closet, he would be close enough to touch, but never close enough to see. Not really.

She dreamt about Edwin. She dreamt about the people he hung out with and what they did. Everything they did was horrible, everything they touched turned to poison. She prayed that wouldn't happen to Edwin.

But some things happen suddenly. One night Edwin stumbled in the door at three in the morning, his hands stained with blood. Lizzie stopped in her tracks and the water glass in her hands fell to the ground. ''Oh, my God.''

He looked up at her, his face bruised, his eye black, and tears fell down his cheeks. ''I did something, Liz.'' He whispered, brokenly. ''Something I can't take back.''

And Lizzie wondered what she was going to do about the things that happened suddenly.

_**Song # Four: Somewhere Only We Know - Keane (Smarti/Smerek)**_

Her feet propelled her to the place she knew he would be. Branches scraped her perfect skin, but she barely noticed as she ran through the thick trees. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she could see the river, and in the moonlight, she could see him. And she ran faster. The trees seemed to be looking at her, and she mentally wondered if this was the same place they used to go to. It seemed different. When she finally reached their place, she stopped. His back was to her, but she knew, he knew she was there.

''How did you know where to find me?'' He whispered.

''Come on, Smerek, this is our place.'' She took a step towards him and her eyes strayed to the river. ''Somewhere only we know.'' She whispered, her whisper echoing through the branches. Slowly, she sat down next to him and moved her hand to his shoulder, her big brown eyes shining with tears. ''Smerek, I'm so sorry.''

He turned his heartbroken gaze towards her. ''Casey told you? About..About the baby then?''

She nodded slowly. ''She did.''

''This feels...'' he looked away from her and let out a bitter laugh, his eyes shining with guilty tears. ''This feels like it could be the end of everything, Smarti.''

The fourteen year old, wise beyond her years, shook her head. ''No, Derek, this is not the end, things will get better.'' She looked around again. Was this really the place she had been dreaming about for...forever?

''Will they?''

She didn't answer. The siblings sat in silence for the longest time, staring out at the river, the only sound the wind whistling through the trees. After a minute, she sniffled and turned to him. ''We should get back.''

''Wait. Can we just...'' his eyes pleaded with hers and for a moment, she felt like she was the older sibling. ''Can we just stay here? Just for a minute? Please?''

Marti smiled through her tears and slowly, threaded her hand through his. ''Sure, Smerek.''

So, they sat there, not speaking. Because they didn't need to. They just sat there, looking at the river. There, in their place.

Somewhere only they knew.

_**Song # Five: Living Dead Girl - Rob Zombie (Casey)**_

In a quiet graveyard, there lay a simple slab of marble, with words engraved in the surface. _Casey McDonald, Loving Daughter, Sister and Friend, Forever In Our Hearts. _It really could have been a beautiful grave if her parents hadn't been so cheap. Everything in the small graveyard was peaceful. Until a wind rushed through the trees and in one instant, everything changed.

A hand shot up from the grave, followed by a head of dark brown hair matted with dirt and a torso and then legs. Slowly, on shaky, unsteady feet, Casey McDonald rose to her feet and trained her blurry eyes on her grave. When she saw the familiar words, she gasped and stumbled back a few steps. For a fraction of a second, fear and panic played on her features, but then they were gone, replaced by calm and pleasure.

Casey McDonald looked down at her dirty black dress, heels and bloody hands. ''Hmm, I'll have to do something about that.'' In the moonlight, her eyes glinted with silver and for a moment, her teeth seemed to grow longer.

With movements so graceful they were like a cat's ready to pounce, Casey moved out of the cemetary to get some new clothes. And maybe, after that, she would go see her family. Casey smiled, showing off fangs and licked her lips.

She couldn't wait.

_**Song # Six: Supermassive Black Hole - Muse (Mart/OC)**_

22-year old Marti Venturi knew she was pretty. She knew she was beautiful. She knew she was what every one of the boys wanted. And she knew how to use that. She knew how to get what she wanted from them. Her body was her weapon. With it, she could send even the smoothest of men into a supermassive black hole.

Unfortunatly for her, 24-year old Morgan Jones knew how to use his body too. He was smooth, charming, cocky, arrogant, everything she hated. And yet, she was the one to fall at his feet groveling.

It started innocently enough. In a bar. With some flirting. She was wearing her black, leg showing, men killing dress, sipping a dirty martini, waiting for her night's catch, when he slid onto the barstool beside her. ''Friendly advice Sweetheart, these guys in here, they ain't worth a penny...'' he sent her outfit a look, Kate Spade bag, Chanel dress, Prada shoes. ''If that's what you're looking for, of course.''

She slid him a look, and her eyebrows raised. Ripped jeans, heavy coat, chisled features, hands that looked like they were good at _all_ sorts of things. A smooth smirk she inherited from her brother slid over her features and she leaned closer to him. ''How do you know what I'm looking for?'' She whispered in his ear.

''Oh.'' He chuckled and took a swig of his beer, amusement glinting in his eyes. ''You're one of _those_.''

''One of what, exactly?''

He cleared his throat and turned to her. ''One of those college girls who come here for cheap thrills. Believe me, darlin', we get alot of those here.''

Her eyes darkened, bitter at the insult that had just been thrown at her. ''And how would you know? You a regular?''

''You could say that.'' He smiled, showing off pearly whites and stood, without bothering to pay.

''Oh, well, then I'm really gonna take some advice from some bar creep, who's probably just some date rapist who hangs out in the dirtiest, most cocroach infected dive in town. Who the hell are you, anyways?''

His smile faded into a smirk and he moved behind the counter, stripping off his jacket, showing off a tight black t-shirt she defintely approved, and throwing a dishtowel over his shoulder. He held out his hand for her to shake. ''Morgan Jones, and you are?''

Her jaw dropped and her eyes strayed to the sign above the bar. _Jones Bar_ stared her in the face, mocking her, doing all but laughing at her. ''Morgan Jones, as in...''

''As in the owner of this fine establishment. Now, help me out here, Sweetheart, I didn't catch your name.''

After that, Marti found herself showing up at Jones more and more. Right up until the point, she didn't even need to dress up anymore. She wasn't going there for men hunting anymore. It was all about Morgan.

Marti strolled into the bar, wearing fitted jeans, stilletos and a red halter top, a jean jacket completing the outfit. A loud whistle drew her attention to Morgan, who was making a drink for someone at the counter. ''Well, well, well, Marti Venturi.'' He handed a disheveled business man his beer and smiled at Marti. ''To what do I owe this pleasure, Princess?''

''Came for the best service in town, what else?'' She turned her head to the dart board on the wall. ''And maybe I came to beat you at darts.''

Halfway through the game, she was winning, and he wasn't complaning. After all, she had taken her jean jacket off. That was almost better then winning the lottery to him. When the game was through, and she had taken all his money, she grinned and collected her purse and jean jacket. ''Well, I should be going, I probably should make an appearance at my family dinner tomorrow and I don't really want to be hungover. That would get me another 'Marti, what are you doing with your life' lecture.''

''Hmm,'' Morgan tilted his head to the side and studied her carefully. When she turned around, she barely had time to gasp before her back was pressed against the wall and his hands were on either side of her head. ''Just so you know, I will be getting my money back...Hustler.''

She pouted a little and played with the necklace he wore around his neck. ''How'd you know?''

He shrugged. ''Don't con a con man, babe.''

''Babe?'' She smirked at him. ''I like the sound of that.'' And then she took what she wanted, and kissed him. Later that night, he took what he wanted, and the next day, she showed up to her family dinner, with an afterglow.

Yes, Morgan Jones was the one person who could do to her, what she did to every other man.

And she loved it.

_**Song # Seven: Buttons - Sia (Dasey)**_

She was crazy. No, really, she was. She really didn't know what he saw in her. She was no good for him. She didn't know why he didn't have her commited. After all, he once caught her talking to herself, and it seemed like everything she did, the ghosts of her past always followed her. It was annoying really.

Derek told her she was beautiful. She wasn't so sure. Sure, she was decent looking, but she was just..boring. He could have any movie star looking girl and he chose her. Maybe he was the crazy one.

She was no good for him.

Derek told her she was the best thing that ever happened to him. She thought he was the best thing that had ever happpened to her. He kept her grounded, he kept her from breaking out in hives when she got a B- on a math paper.

She was no good for him.

She thought he should probably walk away for his own good.

But she was always glad when he didn't.

_**Song # Eight: Rooftops - Lost Prophets (Dasey)**_

''Derek,'' Casey McDonald groaned as her boyfriend dragged her to the roof of their high school, his hand warm in her cold one. ''We shouldn't be doing this, we could get in trouble.''

''Who cares? We're graduates, it's not like they can give us detention.'' Derek Venturi covered her eyes with his own and rolled his eyes when she let out a high-pitched ''De-_rek_!'' ''Oh, come on, Case, trust me.''

''Do I have a choice?''

''Not really.'' He kicked open the door to the roof that he had propped open earlier and lead her outside into the cold night air.

''How long do I have to keep my eyes closed?''

''Just a second.'' He lead her to the edge and then removed his hands.

Her jaw dropped. ''Oh, my God.'' She never realized how beautiful her hometown was. She never realized that from the roof of Thompson High she could see everything. It was beautiful. Breathtaking even. ''Derek, how did you find this?''

Derek shrugged. ''I went to school here for four years, I kind of figured it out.''

''This is amazing.'' She rested her head on his shoulder, both of them smelling slightly like alchohol from the killer afterparty Kendra had thrown after the graduation ceremony.

''Yep,'' he moved in front of her and smirked. ''Now scream.''

She blinked and stared at him for a minute, sure she had heard him right. ''Huh?''

''Scream. Come on, Case, it feels great. Just let it out, we're trying to make our mark here. Haven't you ever been so angry you've wanted to scream? This is your chance. Scream your heart out, scream until your heart stops, whatever, just scream.''

''Um...'' Casey bit her lip and sighed, before letting out a small scream that sounded like a whimper. ''How was that?''

''Utterly pathetic.'' Derek shook his head. ''I meant scream. Like, really scream. Like this.'' Derek cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled from the rooftops. She could barely understand what he was yelling. Something about Principal Lassiter having foot fungus, but it made her smile. When he turned his gaze to her, she sighed, took a deep breath...and screamed. After a minute, he joined in and, there, together, they stood on the rooftop and screamed their hearts out.

_**Song # Nine: The Heat - needtobreathe (The McDonald-Venturi kids)**_

Nora and George's divorce was even more bitter then their first divorce's. They thought it destroyed them. They never thought about the kids. All those nights, when they were screaming at each other over garbage, or dinner, they didn't know that their kids had a ritual.

Every night, Marti would wake up and sneak into Casey's room, Lizzie would wander to the attic and then all four made their way to Derek's room. The first night of the first fight, Derek and Casey took control.

''Look, guys..'' Derek ran a hand through his sleep damaged hair. ''We...Casey and I want you to know something. We want you to know that no matter how bad their fights get, you can come here, and forget about it.''

Casey nodded. ''This is your safe place. We'll be here. This is the place where the pain can't hurt you. Do you understand that?''

The other three nodded.

So, every night as the fights got worse, they all went to the place where the pain couldn't hurt them and the fire in their parents voices wouldn't burn them, and they forgot their troubles.

They were a family.

_**Songs # Ten and Eleven: All Fall Down and Say (All I Need) - OneRepublic (Marti/Morgan)**_

Marti Venturi was 22-years old when her father died. She had been sleeping peacefully in her king size bed, when the phone rang. She had rolled over and grabbed the phone barking a ''what do you fucking want at this ungodly hour?'' into the phone. Her stepmother's tearful voice had been on the other line. She didn't mention anything about Marti's language, all she said was, ''Sweetheart, your father had a heart attack, get here now.''

Marti had called a cab and when it finally showed up, after fifteen minutes of her swearing and pacing, she had run out into the cloudy sky that felt like rain and into her awaiting cab. As the cab sped through the city, she tried to catch her breath, despite the feeling like she was drowning. After what seemed like forever, but was probably only 30 minutes, the cab reached the hospital. Throwing money at the driver, Marti had rocketed into the hospital, barely stopping to find out what floor her father was on.

Now, as she tore through the hospital, her purse swinging wildly, the only thought that ran through her head was _why did I wear my come-fuck-me heels?_ They really were rather uncomfortable. ''Nora!'' She spotted her stepmother first and picked up her pace, racing towards her. As soon as she got there, she saw the rest of her family, all looking the same. Absoloutly destroyed.

''Marti...'' Nora's mascara was streaked down her face and if it was any other day, Marti would have commented on how unattractive it looked. But today, she barely noticed. She barely noticed Lizzie staring into space, and Edwin on the floor and Casey desperatly trying to comfort Derek who looked...well, who looked like his father had died. She didn't comment on Casey's ugly maternity clothes, she didn't comment on Lizzie's new haircut, which looked horrible on her, or on Edwin's shoes, or the dark shadows underneath Derek's eyes. She didn't comment on any of that, like she usually did. Instead, she focused her gaze on her stepmother, her heart hammering in her chest and her world feeling like it was crashing down. ''I want to see him.''

Nora sniffled and swiped at her eyes. ''Honey, your father...he...he didn't make it. I'm so sorry, Bunny.''

''No.'' Marti shook her head, and backed away when her stepmother tried to move towards her. ''You're wrong.'' Her back hit the wall with a thud and her legs gave out beneath her. ''No, he's not gone.'' Tears pricked her eyes, but they didn't fall. It had been so long since Marti Venturi cried, she didn't know if she knew how anymore. When she looked up, her family was staring at her, like she was some fragile little china doll that was about to break. Like she was strong until she broke.

''Smarti...'' Derek took a step towards her, but then paused, as if there was some invisible wall in front of her.

She looked at Derek for a moment, and then, before anyone could stop her, she was up and running, almost as fast as she had run in.

She took to the streets, and didn't bother to call a cab to take her back to the city. She didn't care about any of that. As she ran, the sky, that had felt like rain, opened up and rained down on her, like it was crying for her. She ran until her bones ached, until she was lost, deep in her old neighborhood, until everything around her felt like it was falling down. She ran in her four inch heels, until her feet felt like they were bleeding.

When she reached a bench in some park she vaguely remembered going to when she was little, she sat down and stared. Just stared. At the raindrops falling down. At the raindrops hitting the jungle gym, at the raindrops making the grass shine like new. She wasn't sure how long she sat there, but the next thing she knew, it was dark out, and something warm was rolling down her cheek. Something that definitely wasn't rain. It was a teardrop. She was crying.

''Marti!''

A very familiar voice met her ears, but she didn't even turn around when someone stepped in front of her and pulled her roughly to her feet. Morgan glared at her, his green eyes dark with rage and something else she couldn't quite identify. ''Are you insane?! Are you trying to kill yourself?! Is that really what you want?!''

''Maybe.'' She murmered, under her breath.

He sighed and his grip on her shoulders loosened. He let go of her and stripped off his jacket, draping it around her shoulders. For a minute, she thought he was going to drag her back to his car. Instead, he sat down on the bench, seemingly not noticing the rain soaking through his t-shirt. ''I'm sorry..about your Dad.''

She turned her dark eyes on his light ones and frowned. ''How did you know about that?''

''Casey called me. They're worried about you, Princess.''

''Don't care. Let them worry.'' She sat down next to him and gripped his jacket tighter around her body. ''Aren't you worried you'll catch a cold?''

''I'm more worried about you, Marti.''

''I'm fine.''

''You're not fine.''

''Morgan, I'm _fine_!''

He studied her for a moment, before shrugging and standing. ''You need some time alone, I get that. You need some time to be lost. But when you're ready to be found, call me.'' He leaned down and kissed her forehead gently, before turning to walk away from her.

She had no plans to go after him. Her plan was to wait until he was gone, lay down on the bench, rest her head on the cold wood and wait for...something. Morning? Death? For the dull ache in her chest to go away? She wasn't sure what she was waiting for, but she would find it. She had to. But, when she saw his retreating back, something inside her snapped, and she was up and running towards him faster then her heartbeat. ''Morgan!''

He turned around just in time for her to launch herself into his arms and kiss him. When she pulled away, she wrapped her arms around his neck and let him hold her tightly.

''I'm ready to be found.''

**AN: Okay, I have a confession, on numbers three and six, I had to play them twice. The Marti/Morgan ones are my favourites and I am seriously considering turning them into a real fic. Anyone want me to? I did something a little different with the last one, I used two songs. The first part was **_**All Fall Down **_**and the second was **_**Say (All I Need)**_** and I only had to listen to them once each. It was weird, it started out kind of slow and then the next thing I knew it was like holy crap! Anyways, this was really fun, and I'm looking forward to the next fic. If anyone wants me to do the Marti/Morgan, just PM me.**

**Kisses, Sugarbug**


End file.
